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Pole-sitter Antonelli on brink of historic title
Updated On: 26 October, 2026 09:28 AM IST | Austin | AFP
The 20-year-old Italian will wrap up the drivers’ championship if he wins in Austin on Sunday, his Mercedes teammate George Russell finishes outside the top eight and Lewis Hamilton finishes outside the top four

Kimi Antonelli after claiming pole at the US Grand Prix in Austin on Saturday. Pic/AFP
Runaway world championship leader Kimi Antonelli showed no nerves as he stormed to pole position with a perfectly-measured fastest lap in qualifying on Saturday for the United States Grand Prix.
The 20-year-old Italian will wrap up the drivers’ championship if he wins in Austin on Sunday, his Mercedes teammate George Russell finishes outside the top eight and Lewis Hamilton finishes outside the top four. Antonelli secured his seventh pole of the season and his first in eight races with a fastest lap of 1min 34.035sec to outpace Max Verstappen by 0.179sec with Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Isack Hadjar a career-best third.


